96 
DEATH OF THE EARL OF AUCKLAND. 
that important system of continually importing 
Indian seeds, to which we owe the numerous 
and invaluable Coniferous and other plants 
that have now become so common in England. 
No wonder that on departing from his Indian 
government Lord Auckland should have been 
followed by the deep regret of all, for a loss 
which they knew might not be easily repaired." 
The following, from quite a different source, 
The United Service Gazette, shows how truly 
this excellent nobleman was beloved in every 
station it was his lot to fill : — 
" The news of the death of the Earl of 
Auckland will, we are satisfied, be received 
with very great regret in India. The services 
which he rendered to his country at the head 
of the Admiralty were not to be compared to 
the great good which the deceased earl achieved 
as Viceroy in the East. Finding India in a 
state of tranquillity, Lord Auckland immedi- 
ately applied his talents and the revenue at 
his disposal to the development of the resources 
of the country and the advancement of the 
arts of peace. Trade and commerce received 
an important impetus from the earliest mea- 
sures of his government. He particularly 
addressed himself to the encouragement of 
the agriculture of the country. To the ex- 
tension of medical knowledge he was likewise 
very friendly, carrying out with no niggardly 
hand the plans of his enlightened predecessor, 
Lord William Bentinck, and substituting the 
skill and humanity of the West for the empi- 
ricism and barbarity of the East. Education 
found in him a warm and liberal patron, and 
to the study of the natural sciences and me- 
chanical arts he volunteered the most generous 
assistance. As the head of a large and highly 
intelligent society, of mixed professions and 
pursuits, Lord Auckland was remarked for 
his amenity and hospitalities ; while in the 
dispensation of the enormous patronage at- 
taching to his office of Governor-General he 
was just and discriminating. For the sole 
blot upon his administration — the military 
occupation of Afghanistan — his lordship could 
scarcely be considered responsible. It was a 
measure originating in the fears entertained 
by Lord Palmerston of the designs of Russia 
and the influence of Russian agents. The 
manner in which the expedition was equipped, 
and the facility with which its objects were 
carried out, spoke volumes in favour of the 
Earl of Auckland's foresightand good manage- 
ment ; and if the climax of the enterprise 
was, after three years of the occupation of the 
country, disastrous in the extreme, it should 
be remembered that the Governor-General 
had employed the ablest officers in the com- 
pany's service to watch the course of events, 
and study the temper of the people, and the 
best general officer in the royal service to 
command the troops the home authorities had 
vouchsafed him. ... In the dispensation of 
charities Lord Auckland was as beneficent as 
he was judicious. The people of India recog- 
nised in him a wise and philanthropic ruler, 
and the circle by which he was surrounded, 
while it enjoyed the advantage of his society, 
yielded to his excellent example, and contri- 
buted to the general happiness. We repeat, 
Lord Auckland will be much regretted in 
India. 
"As independent and impartial journalists, 
neither swayed by party nor biassed by favour, 
we lament his loss as that of a severe affliction 
to the navy, for in no First Lord, although he 
was a Whig, did we ever find so just, upright, 
able, and truly liberal a man in the discharge 
of all the duties that appertained to his high 
office. . . . 
" Of his late administration we may saj r , in 
the words of a daily contemporary, that, week 
by week, ' we have traced the progress of his 
lordship in improving and developing the 
naval resources of the country ; and, if we 
have not always given our unqualified appro- 
bation to the views and measures of Lord 
Auckland'3 board, we have, at least, given 
the noble earl credit for the most sincere in- 
tentions of carrying out what he believed to 
be the best adapted for the welfare and ad- 
vancement of the service. His errors have 
been those of the head (and those very few), 
and not of the heart. He loved the navy, 
and always exhibited the most kindly feelings 
towards the officers of its respective depart- 
ments ; and, if there were any who did not 
look upon him as their friend, we are sure 
that there is not a single man in the military 
or civil service under the administration of 
the Admiralty who ever regarded the deceased 
noble lord as an enemy.' 
" Lord Auckland was easily accessible, 
and, though his manners were often regarded 
as cold, they were only so in appearance, for 
he had a warm heart capable of the most 
generous impulses. He promised little, but 
he accomplished a great deal more, although 
cautious and prudent in most of his perform- 
ances ; his lordship's great aim was to select 
the man for the office, and not the place for 
the man. 
" With his colleagues he was ever most 
open and straightforward, and he possessed 
the rare faculty, which he exercised with the 
greatest facility, of softening the asperities of 
professional discussion, and of reconciling 
differences of opinion where unanimity had 
not previously prevailed. He was as much 
beloved for his virtues as for his talents, and 
was as highly honoured and respected for his 
social good qualities as for his high and digni- 
fied official bearing." 
